First post, total noob. I need serious help.

[coalnation]

Hey everyone, my name is Coal and hopefully I've come to the right place. My dad has opened a gym in the past year and the audio/video aspect of it has always been lacking. He had good ideas, but not enough knowledge on how to make it work. Now he plays music from a boombox and the TV's hanging on the walls are almost always off. He is wanting to change it up and asked me to find out what I could. I have a basic understanding of these things and hopefully will a little guiding, I'll be able to set everything up for him the way he wants it.

Equipment: Currently have a Gateway SX23-70 that I want to be able to use as a media server. It does not have an hdmi output port on the video card, however, I can add this as needed. We have 3 VIZIO E601i-A3 LED TV's that are currently wall mounted and off 99% of the time. We have a Synology DiskStation DS214se Diskless System Network Storage. I feel like this can be of some use, however, it's never really been setup. We have two HDTV cable boxes currently being paid for, however, they aren't running to anything. We also have an iPad that does nothing.

Goal: I want to setup a functioning audio and video system that is easy for my dad to operate and maintain. I would like to be able to play video's of old fights on the TV's. I don't care if they all play the same thing at once, or they play different things. I just want them to be ON. What is the best way to go about this? Should I use DLNA? Should I hardwire them to my computer? I also need to setup some kind of an audio system. I'm not against buying a receiver and buying speakers obviously, however, I don't have a huge budget. I would like to be able to simply stream Pandora or Spotify to multiple speakers in different rooms if this is possible. This would be easiest for my old man to maintain.

Anyways I'm sure I missed some things and if I need to add anything I will. Any help is greatly appreciated! I put some photos of the gym below.

 

[ReUpRo]

Welcome to the forum. This is indeed the right place to discuss AV stuff, though we're more focused on home theater than a commercial setup. A setup of this magnitude is best left to the pro installers. There may be an upfront cost, but, you'll reap the benefits of things done correctly from the get go.

Nice gym!

In any case, you will need to answer a few questions to get correct suggestions.
1. Do you just need the same video on all three TVs or 3 independent streams?
2. Do you just want the same audio across the entire space or do you need 'zones'?
3. Other than the Gateway PC and cable boxes, do you foresee any more sources, like a Bluray player?

That's all I can think of now...

Edit: I reread your post and you've already answered the three questions,
1. Independent
2. Need zones
3. Maybe a player, anything else?

What's your budget?

 

[coalnation]

Welcome to the forum. This is indeed the right place to discuss AV stuff, though we're more focused on home theater than a commercial setup. A setup of this magnitude is best left to the pro installers. There may be an upfront cost, but, you'll reap the benefits of things done correctly from the get go.

Nice gym!

In any case, you will need to answer a few questions to get correct suggestions.
1. Do you just need the same video on all three TVs or 3 independent streams?
2. Do you just want the same audio across the entire space or do you need 'zones'?
3. Other than the Gateway PC and cable boxes, do you foresee any more sources, like a Bluray player?

That's all I can think of now...

Edit: I reread your post and you've already answered the three questions,
1. Independent
2. Need zones
3. Maybe a player, anything else?

What's your budget?

I honestly don't foresee any other sources in the future. When you say zones, do you mean different music playing in different areas of the gym? If so, we really don't need different audio throughout the gym, it can be the same everywhere. It would be nice to be able to stream different video to the TV's, however, it's not a priority. As far as the budget goes, I was told to get it done. I don't want to buy the absolute cheapest stuff out there but I don't believe I need everything to be top of the line.

 

[BMXTRIX]

One big question become ease of use and reliability. While TVs certainly have built in streaming functionality these days, there are huge questions as to the reliability and quality of the internal streaming devices in the different displays, and bigger question marks as to how reliable playback is from these units, and still further questions of how easy it will be to turn on, setup a playback stream, and have it run for the entire day.

On a budget, this is basically free from what you've described. Network connection to the TV, run it back to your networked PC, and set up all the streaming videos and connections to the TV. The issue, IMO, is that this is very limited and will be complex to not only setup, but to continue to use day-in and day-out.

Better would be a HDBaseT run to every TV for HDMI connectivity and a small HDMI matrix switcher connected to the various sources. You can set it up to play back from any HDMI enabled source such as HD cable, AppleTV, computers, etc. A small 8x8 HDMI matrix is about $2,000 for an inexpensive model. A small 4x4 version is less than half that. HDBaseT transmitter/receiver pairs are about $500 for very good ones, and $200 for cheaper, and potentially less reliable units, but the same video quality.

A best scenario would be to then install a control system to run the show with iPad control. Your dad could pick up the iPad and press a 'System On' button and all the TVs would power on, all equipment would switch to the proper inputs, and sound would start up with a couple of guided button presses. From there, switching and control for each TV could be individually available. This is the most professional way of doing things and provides long term reliability and ease of use, but carries the highest price tag because there is additional installation and custom programming and some extra gear.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

^^^^ What BMX Said. +1000
You need a pro A/V vendor if you want a reliable and easy to use system. You may call BMX biased since he is A/V vendor, but I'm not. Just an IT guy who's also responsible for design/operation of multiple conference rooms systems

 

[coalnation]

One big question become ease of use and reliability. While TVs certainly have built in streaming functionality these days, there are huge questions as to the reliability and quality of the internal streaming devices in the different displays, and bigger question marks as to how reliable playback is from these units, and still further questions of how easy it will be to turn on, setup a playback stream, and have it run for the entire day.

On a budget, this is basically free from what you've described. Network connection to the TV, run it back to your networked PC, and set up all the streaming videos and connections to the TV. The issue, IMO, is that this is very limited and will be complex to not only setup, but to continue to use day-in and day-out.

Better would be a HDBaseT run to every TV for HDMI connectivity and a small HDMI matrix switcher connected to the various sources. You can set it up to play back from any HDMI enabled source such as HD cable, AppleTV, computers, etc. A small 8x8 HDMI matrix is about $2,000 for an inexpensive model. A small 4x4 version is less than half that. HDBaseT transmitter/receiver pairs are about $500 for very good ones, and $200 for cheaper, and potentially less reliable units, but the same video quality.

A best scenario would be to then install a control system to run the show with iPad control. Your dad could pick up the iPad and press a 'System On' button and all the TVs would power on, all equipment would switch to the proper inputs, and sound would start up with a couple of guided button presses. From there, switching and control for each TV could be individually available. This is the most professional way of doing things and provides long term reliability and ease of use, but carries the highest price tag because there is additional installation and custom programming and some extra gear.

Thanks for the input. I tried setting up a simple DLNA system for the video, however, the VIZIO TV's had trouble with playback. I tried multiple codecs and file types, some would work, however, some wouldn't. It was a major pain in the ***.

I told him it would probably be best to get a professional to do it because this is not my best department (hair stylist & motorcycle mechanic) but he kind of blew off the idea. He said he would rather play music from his "jambox" than have someone else come in and set something up. I wish I could have seen the interactions and what happened between the original guy and him. Anyways, I'm considering just hard wiring the TV's to the computer and playing the media through there. As far as the sound, it can be the same in all areas of the gym so I'm considering just getting a receiver with airplay and hard wiring speakers to it. He can then use his iPad to control the music.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The concept of 'hard wiring' is the right one. The problem is the distance that is likely to exist between the TVs and the head end (where the gear is). HDMI has some serious distance limitations, and if any wires are above a ceiling instead of surface mount, you could have issues. So, you need HDMI over cat-6 extenders called HDBaseT to cover the distance.

Then, you have multiple different sources. To allow them to be utilized easily, you should put in some sort of HDMI matrix to allow it to happen.

Finally, you have audio, and that will need some speakers in the space. You can wire in an A/V receiver of decent quality with multiple speakers for not a lot of cash and get good results.

With all due respect, but how would he appreciate the response: "I would rather exercise at home than go to some gym and get set up."
There is a reason people go to a quality gym, and there is a reason to hire someone who knows about A/V. It's the results that count, and there is some price associated with those results.